My Story

It continues to evolve and change. This I am grateful for. I own all of it and know that I can change the ending at any time... and so can you.

Photo Credit: Ann Keen Photography

Teacher | Mom | Wife | Community Builder

All of my adult life I have been a teacher. Following college at the University of Washington, I wrote curriculum and grants for a school for At-Risk children in Seattle. I taught golf, mindset, strategy and visualization for 20 years. In the last 5 years, my focus as been movement (yoga), breath, coaching and serving my immediate community.

In 2011, My son Lucas was born. The circle in which I wanted to serve got larger as I got a front row seat to how stressful and overwhelming parenting can be.

Life continues to evolve. Change is inevitable. Loss is inevitable. Joy and challenge are, too. How we navigate this "life" thing really does have a direct correlation to our ability to be free. We all are walking this road together. The details may be different but our human-ness is the same.

I look forward to seeing you on your mat, at our book club or out in the community. My door (and email) is always available. If you need a resource or have a question, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Namaste,

Jen

Recovery

Most of my life I had been uncomfortable. I didn’t know this when I was 7, I just thought everyone felt that way.I was a very smart child. I was also polite, driven and uncomfortable. I didn’t know what to do with all the stuff that I felt and the thoughts that I had. So, I withdrew, I hid, I stuffed my feelings, I pretended that things were okay, I “tried on” other people’s personalities and how they dressed and talked and wrote their name.Things happened when I was a kid. A neighborhood kid chased me around his house trying to rub his penis on me, a boy from my 5th grade class chased me home nearly every day for a year. If he caught me, he would pinch my butt so hard, it would leave a bruise. I was a tomboy and played sports, but so wanted to fit in with the “popular” girls. I got braces and was incessantly made fun of. My last name was a constant source of negative rhyming and teasing. There were three girls that were absolutely hell-bent on making my life miserable. And I just stuffed all this down and kept it to myself, pretending everything was ok. Looking back, I felt utterly powerless and this was all before I was 12!

When I was 15, I found alcohol. And all of sudden, I found my personality.

I was ALL those things that I wasn’t when I was just plain Jennie. I was loud and funny and everyone wanted to hang out with me. I was even voted “most fun to be with” my senior year in high school. I felt so sad when they voted me that. There was a part of me that knew that they only liked this person that I had CREATED when I drank. The true me, the REAL me, was rejected.